"What!" cried Jarocho, "have you the gift of seeing what no one else has seen?"
"I only observed what every body else might have seen, had they chose; but when a man receives a flower from the hand of a girl he loves, he needn't, I think, despair."
"Thank Heaven!" cried the Jarocho, cheerfully. "Yet," he added, with a sigh, "this is not the first token I have had from her; to-morrow the illusions of this night may be dispelled. Ever since ña Sacramenta came to live at Manantial I have suffered the utmost tortures of anxiety, and yet vengeance has not been done on my cousin's murderer. I have tried to forget that duty; unluckily, there are others who do not. The dead man's mother reminds me every day of the charge which has devolved upon me. Eight days ago I met the old woman. I wished to avoid her, but it was impossible. She is looked upon as a sort of witch by the people around. On passing me she cried out, 'The dead have better memories than the living.' I asked her what she meant, although I knew full well. 'You will see him to-night,' she replied. In truth, that very evening," Calros continued, in an altered voice, "I was seated at the same place where we now are, Señor Cavalier; the door was open, and my thoughts were engaged about nothing in particular. I was only listening to the voices in the trees and on the wind; a pale white mist was creeping up to the sky, as it is doing now. All at once a cloud came between my eyes and the stars; it took a human form, and the dead man was before me! I saw him distinctly, right in front of me. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them he was gone. You will now understand why I asked you, señor, who, as a European, must be a learned man, if mortals like ourselves can raise the dead."
These superstitious notions are not at all prevalent in Mexico, and the Jarochos seem to have a complete monopoly of them. I gently hinted that all this was nothing but the result of a diseased imagination.
"I know well," said he, "that the ghost of my deceased relative has not been raised by any human power, but I believe that God himself has sent it to me. I have taken my resolution. I shall not stay in the village a day after to-morrow, although I leave it with a broken heart."
"But is there no way of reconciling your duty with your love?"
"That can only be done by delegating my powers to a devoted friend. A guest makes a part of the family; and in this quality, señor, you might take my place and seek the murderer, who would not hesitate to give you satisfaction."
"That would be too glorious a mission for me, and I fear I should not be successful in the search," I said, modestly; "but I have no objections to accompany you, and aid you in your task."
"That is an offer which I will not refuse," Calros answered. "We shall then set out the day after to-morrow."
This delicate point settled to our mutual satisfaction, we stretched ourselves under a shed which served as a sort of veranda to the cabin. A gentle breeze was beginning to dissipate the heat of the day. The lizards were silent in the grass; and in the savannas, the wild cattle, by their joyful lowing, testified to the grateful freshness of the night. Lulled by the soft murmur of the twittering leaves, I soon fell asleep.